Portland Trail Blazers: 3 candidates for a breakout season in 2019-20

3. Gary Trent Jr

When Hassan Whiteside got traded to the Blazers, one of the things he said was “WE GOT SHOOTERS.” He was talking about Lillard and McCollum, but one of the other elite shooters on this team is the 2018 second-round pick from Duke, Gary Trent Jr.

He is going to have a chance to be a consistent contributor off of the bench this year.

At 6’6”, 205 pounds, Trent has the physical profile to play both shooting guard and small forward for the Blazers. He only appeared in 15 games for the team last season, but in the final game of the year, he put up 19 points, three assists and two rebounds.

Trent will mostly play off the ball for the Blazers, but he can also make things happen with the ball in his hands. He can hit stepback shots, get to/finish at the basket and can convert tough shots from all over the court.

This summer league, Trent was one of the Blazers go-to options. He averaged 20.6 points, 6.4 rebounds. 2.6 assists and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 41.4 percent from the field (17.4 FGA) and 37 percent from the 3-point line.

His performance in Las Vegas had to give head coach Terry Stotts and his coaching staff some confidence that they might be able to use him this year off of the bench. Trent is a mature, smart basketball player who knows his role and won’t ever try to do too much when he sees the court.

Rodney Hood will likely start the small forward spot. Bazemore primarily back him up, while Anfernee Simons backs up Lillard and McCollum. That leaves Trent to get some minutes at both backcourt spots when Stotts wants to rest both his backcourt stars.

He will also be asked to play if guys get into foul trouble or when players get banged up during the year.

Trent will play the role that Jake Layman, Pat Connaughton and Allen Crabbe have played in the past for this franchise, and that’s good news for Trent because all three of those guys have gone on to different teams with much larger bank accounts.